Life is very cheap.

Four men accused of murdering a teenage boy, Adnan Patrawala in 2007 walked free from a Mumbai court yesterday as the prosecution failed " miserably " to prove its case. The prosecution case was that Adnan met the 4 accused after becoming friendly with them on a social networking site. They forced him to drink some drugs and then strangled him. The plan was to demand a ransom of Rs 20 million for Adnan but when they saw the news of his kidnapping on TV they left the body in Adnan's car and fled. This has become the norm in India.In 1999 Shivani Bhatnagar, a journalist was murdered in her flat and an IPS officer, RK Sharma was suspected. He went on the run but finally surrendered in Ambala. A lower court found Sharma and 3 others guilty of murder and sentenced them to life but they were freed by the Delhi High Court in 2011. Manu Sharma, son of a Congress politician in Haryana was freed from charges of murdering Jessica Lall although he shot her in a bar in front of many witnesses who were threatened into silence. A public outcry resulted in a new trial and Sharma was sentenced to life only to be released repeatedly by Delhi politicians for frivolous reasons like attending marriages of relatives. Rathore was released after a derisory 6 months when he had used the police force under his command to drive Ruchika Girhotra to suicide by hounding her brother. The politicians have ensured that we have a corrupt, brutal and inept police force that they can control to their advantage. But what about the prosecution lawyers and the judges? Are they entirely kosher? Are they not involved in unnecessarily prolonging a trial for years so that witnesses can be silenced with threat or money? In Kashmir, Education Minister, Peerzada Saeed of the Congress is alleged to have arranged for an official in his department to write part of an Urdu paper for his son. Earlier, GM Saroor, also of the Congress, was forced to resign after helping his daughter to pass a qualifying exam for medical college by cheating. Apparently Dow Chemical, sponsor of the London Olympics, has been selling tens of millions of dollars worth of Union Carbide products in India under its brand name. TOI, January 31. At times it seems that every Indian is for sale no matter what the consequences for the nation. No sharam, no izzat.

Oil gambit accepted.

The most expensive food in the middle east is the " Kabsa ". An entire sheep is wrapped in some type of leaves, buried under sand and a fire lit over it. The sheep slowly cooks unseen in its own fat over 10-12 hours. Only very special cooks know when it is done and charges are very heavy. The politics of the middle east is also cooking slowly, largely ignored by most people in the world. Medecin Sans Frontieres has suspended its work in Misrata in Libya because doctors were being asked to treat victims of torture, presumed Gaddafi supporters, who were then sent back to prison to be tortured again. The middle east thrives on hatred and vengeance and grudges are nursed over generations. Gaddafi supporters are beginning to regroup and there is every possibility of a long drawn out civil war dividing the country. In Syria, the opposition has been joined by deserters from the army and are fighting back. The ruling Alawites are a minority and are afraid of being wiped out if they lose but the longer it goes on the more will be the reasons for revenge as in Libya. The Alawites, being Shia, are supported by Iran, which is Persian and Shia, and hated by all Arabs, majority or whom are Sunnis. If Assad of Syria falls Iran will be unable to supply arms to Hezbollah in Lebanon and so will be unable to continue its proxy fight against Israel. The US has been increasing sanctions on Iran to get it to stop its nuclear program which Iran says is for producing electricity but is clearly aimed at producing nuclear weapons. Iran correctly sees nuclear weapons as a ticket to international power and respect but this alarms Israel and especially the Arabs who will not tolerate Persian dominance. Despite being an oil exporter Iran does not have enough refining capacity and has to import refined products. This makes its economy vulnerable to external pressure. Some European countries have decided to stop importing Iranian oil from July. In retaliation Iran has announced that it will stop exporting oil to some countries straight away. The biggest problem is that the government of Iran is made up of religious leaders who naturally feel they have divine protection against all enemies and victory will ultimately be theirs. If the regime feels really under threat it may threaten shipping in the gulf. A few mines in the water and threats might be enough to deter shipping companies because any injury to a tanker will the mother of all environmental disasters. Oil prices will shoot up. This being election year in the US its response is hard to predict. Will Obama have to attack Iran to prevent Republicans calling him a pussy? The Kabsa is cooking nicely.

It's not just cricket.

Mercifully the test series against Australia has come to an end. Australia thrashed India comprehensively and the Australian media has been withering in its contempt for the gutless performance. Australian pitches are rock hard so that their fast bowlers can bowl in-swinging short pitch deliveries that rise to the throats of the batsmen and are very difficult to fend off. The Australians are crowing because Indian batsmen, conditioned to the slow-and-low pitches back home prepared to suit our spin bowlers, capitulated. In the end we lost all 4 tests, the first by 122 runs, the second by an innings and 68 runs, the third by an innings and 37 runs and the fourth by 298 runs. However the Australians were crying when Douglas Jardine used the same conditions to unleash Harold Larwood in, what has become known as, the Bodyline series in 1932. The only difference is that these days you are allowed no more than 5 fielders on the leg side. Thus the Australians will any tactics, from abuse to deliberate blocking a batsman taking a run, to win. But what about our fellows? Raised to superstar status by an adoring public and earning hundreds of millions of rupees they think that they are the best in the world when they are about average. The tragedy is that they are infinitely better than what we had in the past. At one time Indian batsmen used to shuffle towards square leg when facing fast bowlers and no one wanted to open the innings. It was so bad that we had to play 2 wicketkeepers, Engineer and Kundaran, to open against Wes Hall of the West Indies. It was Sunil Gavaskar who first stood up to the fearsome Holding and Roberts in the West Indies series of 1971 which India won 1-0 and Gavaskar finished with an average in excess of 150. His achievements were all the more remarkable because those days batsmen were not provided with helmets. There are many things wrong with Indian sports. The main problem is that every sports body is controlled by politicians and civil servants who use their positions for foreign tours with family and friends and for enriching themselves. Watch out for the London Olympics. Administrators will outnumber our athletes. They will occupy the best accommodation forcing athletes to sleep on floors and will slink away like craven jackals when we return with nothing. Unless we excise the disease ignominy will be our fate.

Shades of black.

The government has decided to blacklist ISRO scientist, Madhavan Nair for leasing out 2 transponders to a private firm, Devas for Rs 10 billion when the company should have paid Rs 150 billion. The government held Mr Madhavan responsible for the loss of revenue and has forbidden him from holding any government job in his life. Yet Mr Kalmadi of the Congress who has just obtained bail for his role in the Commonwealth Games scam is still continuing as chief of Indian Olympic Association. The Delhi government, which had a budget of Rs 700 billion for the same games, which were a disaster and brought enormous shame on the nation, has not been charged with any irregularity. Our most revered External Affairs Minister, Sm Krishna, also of the Congress, has been granted an injunction by the Supreme Court on a probe by the Karnataka Lokyukta into illegal de-reservation of 11620 sq km of forest land to help the mining industry when he was Chief Minister of Karnataka between 1999-2004. His defence was that since it was a cabinet decision he was not responsible. Just as Gaddafi was responsible for the crimes of his government so Mr Krishna was responsible for cabinet decisions as chief minister. Clearly there are different rules for the Congress as Yadyurappa of the BJP did not receive such protection. Meanwhile in Rajasthan farm laborers, who should be paid Rs 100 per day under the MNREGA scheme, are being paid Rs 1-10, the rest going into the pockets of the local politicians and civil servants. The MNREGA scheme was started as a bribe to rural farmers by the Congress to win the last general elections. Rajasthan, which also has a Congress government, prevented Salman Rushdie from attending the Jaipur Literary Festival by lying about assassins being paid to kill Rushdie. Apparently the Food corporation of India, a state owned company, is paying 30% less than the minimum support price for acquiring grains from farmers. Instead of paying Rs 1080 per 100 kg for rice paddy they are paying anything between Rs 750-850. Minimum support price is supposed to help farmers by setting a lower price limit on their produce so that they do not lose money if there is a bumper harvest. So scientists who were responsible for sending a spacecraft to the moon get a lifetime punishment while useless, parasitic politicians and civil servants continue merrily with their plunder. How many shades of black are there?

The west is mysterious.

The famous television personality, Joan Rivers had her 734th plastic surgery even though her daughter pleaded with her not to because she was afraid for her life. Seem to remember the same Ms Rivers commenting about Zsa Zsa Gabor, saying that the dimple on her chin was actually her belly button which had been pulled up by the numerous face lifts that Ms Gabor had undergone. Deliciously bitchy. We see our reflections only when getting ready but a person perpetually in front of cameras must be conscious about her appearance all the time so that it becomes an obsession. While we can understand why a TV personality would want to undergo plastic surgery to look better, especially if her earnings depends on her looks, it is difficult to sympathise with anyone wanting to enhance breasts with silicon implants. Thousands of women are now worried about PIP implants which apparently contain industrial silicon not of medical standards. The BBC showed the operation for removal of a PIP implant from one Debbie Lewis who has been left with a bill of 6000 pounds because the NHS will pay for the removal of the old implant but not for a replacement. Seems like having to invent a succession of whoppers to cover up a little white lie. Meanwhile Norwegian Gestapo kidnapped 2 children belonging to Anurug, who has been working as a geo-scientist in Stavenger in Norway, and Sagarika Bhattacharya and put them in care. The reason was that the children were fed by hand and not knife and fork and slept with their parents. If these ignorant goons had bothered to do a little study they would have realised that probably half the world's population eat with their hands and the incidence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is virtually nil in children who sleep with their parents. Although the reasons are not understood studies consistently show that sleeping with parents is safe and healthy for infants. Maybe sleeping with parents may prevent another Anders Breivik in Norway. There are many things to learn from the west but hopefully we will not learn this obsession with superficial cosmetics and the superiority born of stupid ignorance. It is good for the east to remain where it is.

Toxic growth.

In its latest meeting the Reserve Bank of India kept the short term borrowing rate steady at 8.5% while reducing the Cash Reserve Ratio by 0.5%, from 6 to 5.5%. This means banks have to keep less money in reserve to guard against bad loans and will free up more money for lending, leading to a softening of interest rates. Hopefully this will encourage more investment leading to job creation and boost growth of the economy. The Bank was careful not to lower interest rates as inflation is still at 7.5%, down from 10% but still above the Bank's comfort zone. The Bank sees inflation coming down to 7% and growth at 7% this financial year ending March 31. The Bank is to be commended for holding its nerve and keeping interest rates steady when politicians, business barons and their puppet press are baying for a cut in rates. The RBI was cowardly when inflation was rising, delaying action so long that 13 rises of rates did not have any effect till now when seasonal factors have brought down food prices. We hope that the RBI will not lower interest rates until inflation is down to 2% and lower it slowly to keep tight control on inflation. It is the duty of economists and journalists to say what the RBI is unable to do and that is that growth at 8% with inflation at 10% is actually a fall of -2%. Trying to ensure liquidity is like trying to fill a glass which has a big hole in its bottom. In this case it is government borrowing. Instead of controlling useless expenditure and fiscal deficit the government is to borrow Rs 400 billion from the market. This takes money out of banks so the RBI buys back government bonds to refinance banks. Endless Quantitative Easing with printed money will only lower the rupee and lead to more inflation. Instead of controlling its expenditure the government has resorted to increasing black money and hot money. Individual foreign investors are now allowed to invest in Indian stocks which, it is hoped, will bring a flood of hot money and support the rupee. Trouble is, this money can flow out as quickly as it flows in. The second is for every politician to keep the pressure on the RBI to reduce interest rates. This will stimulate the property sector increasing black money and spending resulting in increased growth. The remedy is to reduce government expenditure, keep a tight control on inflation and reduce taxes which will allow people to spend. But then how will criminal politicians and thieving civil servants find money to attend mouth watering junkets like the World Economic Forum at Davos?

The difference of " isms ". Is there any?

Capitalism is a system wherein a country's capital wealth is largely in private hands whereas in socialism and, more so in communism, the state is in control. But in reality people who control the state control the money. The difference is in the numbers of people who have access to capital and hence have some say in how it is used. We can say that every system is really a different variant of capitalism. In Individual Capitalism a dictator has direct control over state coffers and owns all the public wealth. However, to stay in power, a dictator has to share some of the spoils with his family, followers, police and armed forces such as in Zimbabwe and North Korea. Then there is Crony Capitalism of which there are many types. In China the Communist Party owns everything including all the land. Thus party functionaries can and do usurp land from farmers to sell it off for fat profits to developers. The party ensures a high rate of growth which provides enough material gains to the people to keep them quiet. In India the opposite prevails. Politicians ensure that a majority remains dirt poor so that they can be bribed with public money at election times. The educated middle class is seen as a nuisance to be harassed with draconian laws and extortionate taxes. In Russia state assets were virtually given away to insiders to create a bunch of oligarchs who are on the run from Putin's raiders. In the US fatcats ensure that regulations remain weak so that they gamble with people's money, destroy the environment and buy politicians with campaign finance money to ensure that taxes for the rich remain low. Thus Mitt Romney paid $3 million tax on an income of $21.7 million in 2010 for a rate of 13.9% and $3.2 million on an income of $29.9 million in 2011 for a rate of 15.4%. The top rate of tax on wages and salaries is 35%. The fairest system is Democratic Capitalism, such as in parts of Europe, where people are taxed at high rates and the state delivers high quality services such as maternity benefits, unemployment benefits, education, healthcare and pensions to everyone. As in every system this is highly vulnerable to corruption. In Greece the rich did not pay taxes and civil servants awarded themselves high salaries, early retirement pension and even had bonuses for washing hands. We should compel politicians to stop using terms such as socialism just to confuse people. The media can help by educating people so that they can see through the lies. Only then can we have a fair system of government.

Mother of all junkets.

The mother of all junkets has come round again. The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland is holding its annual jamboree, a gathering of puny politicians, business bandits and bonus-guzzling bankers. In an article in the New York Times of January 24, 2011 Andrew Ross Sorkin gave a detailed cost breakdown of attending the conference. It is worth revisiting that article again. Only members are invited. Basic membership cost $52000 and you have to buy a ticket for $19000 plus tax. For a total of $71000 you get invited to general sessions but do not get to participate. For that you have to rise to Industry Associate level which cost $137000 plus the ticket for a total of $263000. With this you can take part in panel discussions and interact personally. If you take along some chamchas, especially if the taxpayer is footing the bill, you can rise to Strategic Partner level. Membership for 5 people $527000 plus ticket of $19000 each for a total of $622000.For this you get access to private sessions, conference rooms to hold meetings in and, that most valued status symbol, a car sticker allowing you door to door pick up service. Membership gets you invitation to Davos plus 6 other meetings around the world. Of course, the blood-suckers have to stay somewhere. A 5-bedroom chalet for 1 week cost $14000 and a Mercedes with driver $10000 for 1 week. After all that brainstorming there would be need to unwind. The Posthotel would charge $210 per person per hour so a cocktail with 60 guests would be $8000 for 1 hour, $16000 for 2 hours. The Indian contingent last year, if memory serves me right, consisted of 124 people, headed by our great sage Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission. By my estimate it would have cost One billion rupees. We are not told as to who foot the bill but what we know for sure is that Foreign Direct Investment fell by 30% last year. We have not been told whose turn it is to attend this year and how many people will be going but prices must have gone up and the rupee is down 15% so the cost will be that much higher. It would be much better to arrange a one week party in India with food, drinks and performances by Bollywood babes. At least it would keep the money inside the country and stimulate the local economy. For that amount artificial snow could be arrange for the photographs. Trouble is, there is coalition dharma to think about.

They made us a joke.

Indian politicians are notoriously thin skinned. Criminals do not like to have humor pointed at them. The Congress party in Punjab has been lampooning the Akali Dal Chief Minister, Prakash Singh Badal and his son and Deputy Chief Minister, Sukhbir Singh Badal in a series of cartoons titled " peo puttar " which means " drink my son ". On objection from the Akali Dal the Election Commission has banned the phase. Elections are boring events full of lies, skulduggery and open bribery of voters so a little bit of humor may have enthused voters to go and vote. The EC has also banned the word " kaka " which means " boy " and is used all the time to address little boys because the Chief Minister calls his son " Kakaji ". Wonder if words of ordinary use have ever been banned in reviled police states like North Korea and China. Shows how brazen the Congress is because in that party not just the son but the daughter and son-in-law, who have no official standing, live for free in a government house worth some Rs 3 billion and travel around for free. The son-in-law has just been to the US for over a month with his mother-in-law. Meanwhile Salman Rushdie was tricked into cancelling his plans to attend the literary festival going on in Jaipur, Rajasthan. He was told that according to intelligence reports criminal underworld in Mumbai were planning to assassinate him which made Rushdie cancel his visit. Unfortunately the Director General of Police in Maharashtra, K Subramaniam said that there was no such intelligence. Rushdie is naturally furious at being tricked but Congress Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot denied that Rushdie has been lied to. He however went on to say that Rushdie will not be allowed to read from his book, Satanic Verses by video link. Meanwhile Fraport AG, which had a 10% stake in the building of the new airport in Delhi is pulling out of India. They have said that the bureaucracy here is impossible and do not have the manners to even answer letters. Silly Germans do not know that criminals do not like to put anything in writing because that is evidence. Better to do business in hushed voices and under the table. Politicians and civil servants have turned us into jokes. Incredible India indeed.

Whose property is it anyway?

The US Congress has decided to postpone any voting on 2 bills, SOPA and PIPA, which would have punished internet sites for piracy. It is only right that authors, musicians and cinema producers should be paid for their work on which they have spent enormous labor and lots of money. However, how do you decide piracy? We have all grown up sharing comics and story books as children so that if a child bought one book it could be read by the entire class of 40 children and then got passed down to younger siblings who shared it with their friends. Surely this is piracy but how do you stop it? It would be ridiculous going around punishing school children or their parents for an innocent act of sharing with friends. The music industry is partly responsible for its troubles. In the past you had to buy a CD of an artist at enormous price to listen to just one popular song while not liking any of the others. In the days of vinyl records one could by a 78 which provided just one song and was much cheaper than an LP but then you would have to keep on changing records as each song finished. CDs and LPs gave no choice so when Apple launched its music service where you could download each song for 99 cents it became enormously profitable. However, intellectual property does not involve just entertainment. Western companies are notorious for trying to patent natural products such as turmeric, neem and basmati. In a race with Craig Venter the Human Genome Project just managed to decipher the genetic code of humans first and put it online for free. Surely each human owns his own genome and no one has the right to patent it. In 2007 3M, a US company bought the rights to BacLite, which was developed by Porton Group with Ploughshares Innovations Ltd, a subsidiary of the UK defence department. BacLite was a cheap, easy and fast way to diagnose the deadly MRSA but 3M shut it down. In November last year the High Court in London supported 3M's defence that it was not commercially viable. Whatever the legal minutiae this case shows that a large multinational with huge coffers can buy up intellectual property and kill it to increase profits whatever the harm to the community. China is the world's largest center for fake products and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Finally, it is really annoying that politicians are so concerned about music and movies while there is no control of the intellectual property of making nuclear weapons. Writers, musicians and movie makers should be paid for what they produce, even if it is Harry Potter, but bandits of intellectual property must also be controlled. Thing is, western countries are used to robbing and will find it hard to stop.

Taxes not for Vodafone.

The Supreme Court in India has ruled that Vodafone need not a paisa tax on its purchase of mobile phone operator Hutchison Essar in 2007 for $11 billion. Vodafone argued that the transaction took place between a Cayman Islands based company and Hutchison Whampoa of Hong Kong and was therefore outside the jurisdiction of India. The seller, that is Hutchison should have paid tax on its profits but as usual Indian tax authorities were sleeping. When they woke up they asked Vodafone to pay $2.2 billion in taxes plus added penalties for not withholding the amount as per Indian laws. As is its habit Vodafone refused to pay and now the Supreme court has backed it. Why? If the Indian law says that tax has to be withheld by the buyer then surely the onus is on Vodafone to pay and not knowing the law is no defence, as we are told repeatedly. It is like arguing that if an Indian living in Cayman Islands sells a house in UK to another Indian living in Hong Kong for a huge profit he is not liable for tax because the transaction took place outside UK. That is patently rubbish. Since the asset was in India the tax will accrue here. However, Indian tax fellows need not feel foolish. Vodafone is a master of evading taxes. In 1999 it bought a 45% stake in Verizon Wireless, a mobile operator in the US by borrowing $12.6 billion from the Swiss branch of Vodafone Holdings based in Luxembourg. Later the borrowing was increased to $27 billion on which Vodafone paid interest of $2.5 billion at 9% when interest rates were much lower. They paid just 1% tax according to Swiss laws and nothing in Luxembourg. Again in 2001 Vodafone bought Mannesmann, a German engineering firm for 180 billion pounds, through its subsidiary in Luxembourg, on which the tax should have been 6 billion pounds. Private Eye, January 10. After prolonged negotiation Dave Hartnett, chief of HM Revenue and Customs accepted a lump sum of 800,000 pounds and another 450,000 pounds to be paid over 5 years. At a time when citizens are being taxed on everything from diapers to funerals it is unacceptable that foreigners should make wealth here without paying taxes. With such massive sums at stake it is not impossible that some under-the-table handshakes took place. This money would go into the property market but that is another story. India is so so interesting, no.

What is brewing in Pakistan?

Pakistan is the world's largest producer of conspiracies by far. However there has been a curious lack of any effort about recent events in that country which is worrying since it is just across the border from India. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has decided to take on all comers. First he criticised the fearsome duo of army chief Kayani and ISI chief Pasha for asking the Supreme Court to investigate,what is known as, the memogate affair without taking permission from the civilian government. Who has ever heard of the Pakistan army chief taking permission from anyone? Except of the US. That Kayani and Pasha did not suffer heart attacks due to excessive mirth was because Gilani then poked them severely in their eyes by sacking retd Lt Gen Khalid Naeem Lodhi as Defence Secretary. Gilani irked the Supreme Court for not investigating President Zardari's corrupt activities. That is stupid. No one investigates his boss for corruption and, to be fair to Gilani, if he started investigating the famed Mr 10% he would be doing it forever. So he was called to answer charges of contempt of court. He politely told the court that the President had immunity from any charge and the court had to back down. So whence this surfeit of courage? This is after all the country where ZA Bhutto was hanged, Zia ul Haq was blown up in flight and Benazir Bhutto was bombed or shot depending on who you talk to. Several possibilities spring to mind. It is possible that the US has promised him great riches for weakening the army so as to force them to take on the Haqqanis of the Quetta Shura, not memogate Haqqani who is hiding in Gilani's basement. It is also possible that Osama is still hiding in Pakistan, having fooled the US Navy Seals with a body double, and has promised Gilani the throne of Afghanistan once US forces leave. Or maybe the Chinese have promised him the governor's post in Xinjiang if he can help them wipe out the pesky Uighurs. Whatever it is we have got to know. A Pakistan without conspiracies is deeply worrying and not good for the safety of India. Will our government wake up?

Beyond comprehension.

The last few days have been full of news about the stricken cruise ship, the Costa Concordia. She is lying on her side on a rock not 50 yards from the shore. About 25 people may have died in the accident. Strangely all the attention is focused on the captain, whether he is responsible for veering off course and his conversation with port officials who are heard ordering him to get back on ship and help in the rescue effort. The actual rescue effort seems curiously low key. Divers complain about dark congested spaces with debris floating around. All activity ceases at dark and if the ship is felt to shift towards deeper water. Diesel powered generators are easily available and several could have been hooked up to provide light throughout night. Steel cables could have been attached to the ship from land and an attempt to winch her higher could have been made. It would not be easy and there would be danger of the ship breaking up. Perhaps it is cheaper to pay compensation for 25 dead people than the insurance bill for a ship of that size. Here in India the army chief Gen VK Singh has sued the government in the Supreme Court. His grouse is that the army records show his birth in 1950 while he says that he was born in 1951. If the date is amended his retirement will be postponed by one year which the government is reluctant to accept. The puzzling thing is that he kept completely silent when his seniority was calculated based on 1950 but he wants his retirement to be calculated based on 1951. Why did he not speak out when he was promoted to army chief? He says that it is about " honor and integrity " but it stinks of greed and opportunism. Businessman called Alistair Pereira has been sentenced to a ludicrous 3 years in prison for killing 7 people sleeping on a pavement on November 12, 2006. The Maharashtra government made no attempt to get the courts to increase his sentence. TOI, January 17. He surrendered at Sewri court to begin his prison sentence but was sent home because the Supreme Court order cancelling his bail had not arrived. Sent HOME! After killing 7. Is it any wonder that people all over the world have had enough? Time for the 4 horsemen?

Where is the money?

According to the International Food Policy Research Institute 21% of Indians are undernourished, 44% of children under 5 years are underweight and 7% of them will die before reaching the age of 5 years. TOI, January 16. Infant mortality rate in rural India is 55 per 1000 live births, 1.3 million children die before their first birthday and 1.6 million before reaching 5 years. We have heard all this before and nothing is going to improve unless poor people stop breeding. Is it better to survive childhood only to be sent to work at the age of 7 or 8 at low wages, starved, beaten up, sexually assaulted, living a filthy miserable life until an early death from alcohol addiction or a treatable infectious disease? What is even more shameful is that 55000 women die of childbirth every year in India. Pregnancy can only happen in young women and is not a disease. So these young, otherwise healthy women are dying of a natural physiological event showing a complete lack of healthcare infrastructure. So what is the government going to do about it? The Congress has decided to pass a Food Security Bill aiming to provide cheap food to 70% of the population, some 800 million people. Because Ms Gandhi wants it. There is no discussion about what it will cost, what it will do to the fiscal deficit which is already out of control, the falling rupee and inflation. If monsoons fail will the government buy food grains from abroad? Last year our balance of payment was $150 billion in the red and our foreign reserves are below $300 billion. Politicians keep talking about China but they are willfully blind to the most important lesson to be learnt from that country which is that its economy really exploded when the one-child policy was adopted and majority of Chinese now support that policy. However it is not only the Indian politicians who are blind. The Economist has found that according to its Big Mac index the rupee is undervalued by 61%. The Big Mac costs $4.20 in the US while the Maharaja Mac in India costs Rs 84, just $1.62. The Maharaja Mac is half the size it was 2 years ago. To make its index truly representative The Economist should also take into account its size and the weight of its contents, especially the meat. Is there a conspiracy to fool Indians with false information and induce a sense of complacency to help Congress? Love conspiracies.

The biggest danger facing India today is the useless education system. In a test called the Programme for International Students Assessment ( PISA ) conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development ( OECD ) every year to examine reading, math and science abilities in 15 year olds Indian students came second last out of 73 countries. TOI, January 16. Shanghai came first. The Indian government put up students from Himachal and Tamil Nadu which are supposed to have the best education systems but they were able to finish just above Kyrgyzstan. Seems that an Indian of eighth grade has the math ability of a South Korean of the third grade and the reading skills of a second grader from Shanghai. The report said," In Himachal Pradesh, 11% of students are estimated to have a proficiency in reading literacy that is at or above the baseline level to participate effectively and productively in life. It follows that 89% of students in Himachal Pradesh are estimated to be below that baseline." Following on from there the Chairman of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, G Mehta has said that only 10% of graduates are employable. " We need out-of-the-box thinking to tackle the issue, considering that barely 10% of the 30 lakh ( 3 million ) students, who pass with these degrees every year, are considered employable" he said. He was referring to BA, BSc and BCom degrees. So what has the government been doing to increase standards. It has increased reservation seats in elite institutions and is insisting on reservation even among faculty. So we can have 5% teachers teaching 5% students. It has established 7 new IITs which are without infrastructure. Students of the new IIT of Kota are sharing facilities in Kanpur doubling class sizes. There are 2000 vacancies among faculty in IITs. Salaries of IIT faculty have not been increased but government school teachers, who are poorly educated and rarely come to work, have seen their salaries jump 80% in the Sixth Pay Commission. A new short course medical graduation for village doctors is being set up. Who is to prevent them practising in cities? Seems that the Congress is hell bent on dumbing down education in India so that we will have a very small number of elite students with the majority with degrees but practically illiterate. The Congress loves the aam aadmi.

Ignorance is scary.

On August 5 last year Standards and Poor's reduced the credit rating on US sovereign debt to AA+ from AAA which is the highest rating. The US government found a $2 trillion dollar mistake in S&P's calculations and its chairman, Deven Sharma was made to resign within 2 weeks of the downgrade. On August 8, the first trading day after the downgrade yields of US 10 year bonds were at 2.40, today they have dropped to 1.89 as investors have sought safety in the dollar because of uncertainties elsewhere, especially in the Eurozone. Last week S&P downgraded 10 countries, including France, using the Euro. Portugal and Greece were at junk status anyway. Germany, Finland, Luxembourg and Netherlands were left at AAA while Belgium and Estonia were left unchanged at AA and AA- respectively. All the countries except Germany and Slovakia, which is at A, have been put on negative outlook. The other 2 ratings agencies, Moody's and Fitch have remained unmoved. It would seem that S&P is right in its pessimism. Greece was unable to persuade private investors to take a 50% haircut on its debt which is the condition for the release of the next tranche of its bailout money. Experts predict a 99% chance that Greece will default on its debt. Some say that European politicians have already accepted that Greece will default and leave the Euro and are trying desperately to make it an orderly affair so as not to cause chaos in the markets. Some say that there is no provision in the Maastricht treaty for any country to leave the Euro so the currency will have to be abandoned. Italy, which has seen its rating downgraded 2 notches from A to BBB+, will need to redeem $193 billion worth of debt this year with $31 billion coming up in February. All this should have created panic in the markets but all seems calm. Italy's 10 bond yields have dropped to 6.634% while that of Spain has dropped to 5.103 from 5.323%. Germany actually sold 6 month bonds at negative yields. Normally bonds are sold at slightly less than their face value. When they are redeemed investors are paid the full value, the difference being their profit. Last week investors paid 100.00616 on bonds with a face value of 100 which means they are paying Germany for the privilege of buying the bonds. Why? Why are they deliberately booking a loss? Surely holding cash would have at least been more profitable. Are they using their Euros expecting to be paid back in Deutschmarks? It is like Jurassic Park. Where will the T Rex appear from. Terrifying yet fascinating.

Men are mr, women are ms.

Mehsana town in Gujarat has 760 girls for every 100 boys, the worst gender ratio in India. TOI, January 13. Girls are being aborted before birth. The reason is not, as feminists would have us believe, that men are averse to daughters but the preference for boys among women. A visit to any residential area in India will show how spoilt and ill behaved the boys are compared to girls. The fact is that women do not like women. The population of the US is 53% female so one would have expected Hilary Clinton to waltz into the White House. Did not happen. Can you imagine an all-woman army, led by a Julia Caesar, crossing the Rubicon on her command? They would argue, criticise her judgement, her lack of hair, her tendency to have fits, her lack of breasts, her big bottom and so on forever and the Rubicon would remain uncrossed. Indian men are the most useless in the world. They cannot cook, iron, stitch a button, change a bulb or change sheets on their beds. One lady dentist in Knowsley in England used to put her 8 year old son to bed with a bottle of milk. To help him sleep. Fact. Unless women face the truth girls will continue to be killed. Maybe it will help reduce the population. No incubator, no chicken. Meanwhile Jennifer Lopez used to pay $10000 to her 24 year old toy boy, Caspar Smart. No harm in that. Men have been paying mistresses for centuries. What is the male for mistress anyway? Is it mister? Does that make all of us men, what the Indian press coyly calls, paramours? Ms Lopez wanted the appropriately named Mr Smart to take her on surprise trips and buy presents for her children. How yuck is that? No harm is whizzing off for a dirty weekend to Coney Island but men would strictly separate paramours from family. Some pleasures are not for sharing. Therein lies the difference. Men like women and women do not. Indian women are besotted with gold and boys. Maybe it is in the genes. No law, however stringent is likely to change the ratio. To change, women have to accept that they have a problem. But will any woman?

A police state.

When union minister Kapil Sibal tried to force internet sites such as Google and Facebook to censor any criticism of Mrs Sonia Gandhi there was an uproar forcing Congress to retract. Of course, he tried to camouflage his intentions by saying he wanted to remove any abuse regarding religion, race or personal attacks on individuals. If people thought that they had been able to defend their freedom of speech they were wrong. One Vinod Rai has filed a petition in court asking for all objectionable contents to be removed. A judge at Delhi High Court has asked social networking sites to find and remove all objectionable material from their sites or else the sites will be blocked " as in China ". TOI, January 14. Politicians want to have absolute power so as not to have to answer to any questions about corruption so they would like to limit our freedom of speech. So we need the judiciary to protect our basic fundamental rights. The extreme right wing government in Hungary has just changed the constitution limiting press freedom. Earlier South Africa has passed similar laws which has prompted some to say that the country was returning to the apartheid era. In Russia since 1993 around 300 journalists have been killed or are missing. Anna Politkovsaya was shot in front of her apartment door. Iran shut down social networks during the vicious crackdown on protesters after the stolen elections of 2009. Mubarak shut down these sites during the protests in Egypt in January and Assad is trying to do the same in Syria. In every parameter of economic development China is 100 years ahead of India. It has 3 trillion dollars in reserve, fantastic roads, no shortage of electricity, better education, better research facilities and enormous military superiority. They thrashed us in 1991 and are still occupying some 50000 square miles of Indian territory in Kashmir and the north east. We in India had at least one bragging right and that was that our press is relatively free though most journalists, being freeloaders, will defend the crimes of politicians. But even this limited freedom is too much for Congress. A recent front page ad in The Hindu had a full page picture of Mrs Sonia Gandhi with the words " We remain, Madamji, ever at your feet ". This was paid for by a businessman, H Vasanthakumar. A party of spineless creepy crawlies, the Congress would love a dictatorship of the Gandhi family so that they could loot forever. The slippery slope to North Korea.

Crooks and their stooges.

A prestigious consulting based in Singapore has rated Indian bureaucrats the worst in Asia with a score of 9.21 out of 10. Worse than Vietnam at 8.54, Indonesia at 8.37, Philippines at 7.57 and China at a distant 7.11. Cheers all round. According to this report Indian civil servants are uniformly corrupt, have so much power that they cannot be punished and are protected by the almost frozen judiciary. The only reason that they did not make a perfect 10 is probably because a rare one out of 1000 does some work. This is not a surprise to any Indian or foreigner who has visited India. What is surprising is the number of people who are ready to defend these scum. A fellow, who described himself as a social worker, writing in an English daily said that we should not have strong laws against corruption because that will prevent honest civil servants from carrying out their duties in case of false accusations of corruption. There are tens of millions of civil servants at the center, at state governments, municipalities and other bodies so there is a vast army of scavengers living on crumbs falling from the trough. One common refrain is that lower grades such as C and D should not come under the proposed ombudsman. A sub-auditor in Indore, Anand Pathak has been found to possess Rs 100 million worth of assets including 2 plots, 3 buildings and shops. A lower division clerk ( the lowest creature ) at Ujjain Municipal Corporation has assets worth Rs 80 million including 2 houses, 2 shops 2 JCB machines, 1 dumper and a Tata Safari. An example of the principle of diversification of assets. The CBI caught a Junior Telephone Engineer in Indore, SN Mishra red handed accepting a bribe of Rs 20000. E Sreedharan has just retired as head of Delhi Metro. He offered to resign when a bridge under construction collapsed killing 7 people. His resignation was rejected. However, when a footbridge collapsed just before the Commonwealth Games everyone blamed the Delhi government for stealing vast sums. The reason why civil servants are so afraid of " false " accusations is because the allegations are true. We can recognise and forgive an honest mistake from someone who is trying his best. It is the crooks that we want to be put away forever. The scary thing is that the economy is running on black money and may collapse if that disappears. When you are used to luxury from crime you will do anything to protect the source. That is the talisman protecting the scum.

The plot thickens.

An Iranian scientist on his way to work was killed by a magnetic bomb attached to the top of his car by a motorcyclist who then escaped. The Iranian currency, the Rial has fallen over 10% in the last one week because of US sanctions on the central bank of Iran. Already over 20% inflation is likely to go higher with the fall in the currency. Japan is thinking of reducing oil imports from Iran and the EU may follow. That is probably why it was so important to finish the war in Libya quickly so that it could resume its oil exports to fill up the gap so that international prices remain steady and cause no economic panic. The Assad regime in Syria, which is Alawite, is under serious pressure and its fall will usher in a Sunni government which would be extremely hostile to Iran. This would cut off supplies of weapons to Hezbollah and Hamas weakening them. So is a regime change in Iran imminent? Iran is backing Assad to tough it out in face of mounting protests. In 2009 protests in Iran were subdued by the sheer brutality of the regime's response and Iran is hoping that the same will happen in Syria. However, Iranians are almost all Shia whereas Sunnnis form an overwhelming majority in Syria and the hatred is such that they may be willing to sacrifice any number of lives to victory. So far so bad. But Iran has another ally next door. Iraq's Prime Minister, Al Maliki, a Shia has been consolidating power. He had an arrest warrant issued for Tareq Al Hashemi, the Vice President who had to flee north to a sanctuary in the Kurdish territory with the help of the President Talabani, who is a Kurd. Shias are 60% of the population, mostly living in the south. Iran could sell oil through its friends in Iraq. If things get really tough Iran could mount raids into Saudi Arabia which shares a very long border with the south of Iraq. Although the oil region of Dhahran is much further to the south Iran could still cause enormous confusion by sending in small raiding parties without actually declaring war. During its war with Iraq Iran almost won by the sheer fanaticism of its soldiers who were ready to embrace martyrdom with pleasure. Such ferocity is almost impossible to defend against. Would the US attack Iran to defend Saudi Arabia? Would we see a coalition of Saudi Arabia, Israel and the US fighting Iran? How would other Muslim countries like Pakistan respond? Meanwhile is there going to be another coup in Pakistan? What a fantastic thriller! Let it role.

Misuse of an icon.

One of the biggest weapons used by the Congress against the people to perpetuate its grip on power is the memory of the father of the nation, MK Gandhi. Hindus are regularly persecuted because Gandhi loved minorities. The Lok Pal bill was torpedoed by demands for reservation for Muslims and now the Congress is promising 9% reservation for Muslims in a cynical bid to win the coming assembly elections in UP knowing that there is no provision for reservation for minorities in the Constitution. This is the same Congress whose MPs were shouting from the rooftops about the sanctity of the Constitution when we were demanding a strong Lok Pal. Congress stooges in the press are no less guilty. One fellow, who is supposedly an eminent historian, wrote in an article that Anna Hazare is no Gandhi and is therefore not qualified to lead civil society activists asking for a strong Lok Pal. Of course, he is not. He has repeatedly said that he is a follower of Gandhi. But that does not mean he would behave exactly as Gandhi did. It is like saying no one can be a Christian unless he is crucified and then resurrects. Gandhi lived in a different India. His fight was against British occupation and in some ways infinitely easier than Hazare's fight against today's criminal monsters. The British looked different and apart from a few minorities ( to name them would invite punishment for hate speech ) Gandhi had absolute support from the people. Wherever he went he stayed as a guest of rich people such as the Birlas which prompted the comment from Nehru's sister, Sarojini Naidu that it cost a lot of money to keep him in poverty. Hazare, on the other hand, has no rich backers and lives a spartan life in a village in Maharashtra. As a citizen of India he has every right to demand an end to corruption and is following Gandhi's example of civil disobedience. Gandhi was treated with courtesy by the British while the Congress and its hounds want to tear Hazare apart. Just as fanatics use God as an excuse to kill the Congress is using Gandhi to oppress Indians. A vile attempt to maintain status quo. Power and pelf.

One legged progress.

There is no doubt that India has progressed a lot. From a backward country on bullock carts we are moving, tentatively, towards cars and planes just when global warming and peak oil are threatening to send the world backwards. Most of the changes have come in the last 10-15 years or so. When we first moved to Vasant Kunj in Delhi in 1990 the car parks were largely empty. Most people had scooters and some were proud owners of an old model Fiat or a the smallest Maruti called the 800. Now the same families own at least 2, if not 3 cars, each and there is hardly any place to park. In 1990 it would take an average of 3 years to get a new telephone connection, today it takes a few hours, the time taken to buy a cell phone and get a new sim card activated. It used to take a few hours to cash a check at any bank as the check traveled from one desk to another while the signature was verified and the balance checked to see if there were sufficient funds. Today it takes a few minutes. I could not have imagined back then that I would be able to access broadband sitting at home with a thingy that looks like a pen drive. But this is very little of what could be achieved. We could have achieved at least double of what we have if were not held back. It is like trying to run fast on one leg, the other being held back by corruption. Criminal politicians and thieving civil servants are shackles round our legs. In today's HT a report says that our Foreign Minister traveled to Malaysia last year with presents which were fakes and hugely over priced. A Nakkishi bowl should be 92.5% silver and cost Rs 14315. Instead the one taken was just 64% silver and cost Rs 40000. A silver bowl was 80% silver instead of 95% and cost Rs 7000 instead of Rs 3000. Instead of sourcing the gifts from official state emporium they were bought from a private supplier, naturally for bribes. Why should other governments trust us when we go around distributing fake gifts? The second, much larger, corruption is using taxpayer money as bribes to win elections. Multitudes of social schemes which are looted resulting in increasing deficit, inflation, devaluation of the rupee and extortionate taxes choking growth. If only we had just a few decent people with the character to say " NO ".

It is easy.

In today's HT a minister, Sachin Pilot writes about eradicating malnutrition in India. It is a usual mixture of pity for the poor, a pious resolve to reach and educate the poor and a plea for more aid channeled through official channels and NGOs. As usual Mr Pilot fails to answer the most important question, which is how many people he thinks the country can feed and for how long. Does India have the land for growing food, the required infrastructure or the money to feed an infinite number of people infinitely? Can any country? We are assaulted daily in the media by shrill do-gooders who insist that the poor must be given food, places to live, healthcare, education and every comfort society can afford. After all the poor are also human and deserve to be treated with dignity. No argument there but surely human beings are capable of analytical thinking, of distinguishing right from wrong and at least some duty and loyalty towards their country. We should treat the poor with respect and sympathy but do they not have any responsibility towards improving their own situation? At the very least they should not have any children. It is totally unacceptable to produce half a dozen children and then expect the government and civil society to care for them. The poor breed because they want to send their children out to work which allows the parents to take it easy. Destruction of forests, poaching of endangered animals, forcing children into work even crime is justified in the name of poverty. Survival means no rules apply. Mr Pilot may be sincere in his sympathy for the poor but to talk about reducing malnutrition without reducing population is sheer humbug. If we want to be cynical we can say that as an Indian politician it is in his interest to advocate social schemes because those can be easily looted by politicians. If he really wants to make a difference educate and help the poor not to breed. That is where taxpayer money should be spent. If there are no poor there will be no poverty.

Election entertainment.

If I had a million dollars I would gladly give that to be in the US from now till presidential elections in November. Americans surely have the most entertaining elections in the world. From the mildly weird to the seriously wacko you get all kinds of candidates and even the weirdest has some supporters who will turn out with music and badges and fliers. The Republicans see a real chance in making Obama a one term president and are holding primaries to select their candidate. This gives Obama a financial advantage in that he does not have to spend any money until the Republican challenger is known. The Republicans have gone with men whose names have 4 letters. There is Mitt, a Rick, another Rick, Newt and Paul. Cain had to drop out after several women alleged that he was able. Michele is out after receiving just 5% of votes in Ohio. Not because she said some strange things like HPV vaccine making women mental, in which case Ron Paul should not come third with 21.4% because he seems to be mental without HPV. Michele should have been aware that uterus is known as hysterus and so women were said to be hysterical. That is so last century. The race now moves on to New Hampshire where a Jon Huntsman is lurking with intent. To be in the US to see all the excitement, razzmatazz and debates would be the ultimate entertainment. Here in India elections are boring with the same old men, podgy women and family members. Political parties are gangs controlled by families, each with its territory. Candidates are selected by gang bosses and inflicted on the people who have the painful duty of selecting between a bunch of ugly criminals. Of all the bosses the Capo is the most powerful. In UP 2 fellows were thrown out by the ruling BSP for corruption and the BJP immediately embraced them even offering them constituencies to contest until an outcry in the press forced them to do an about turn. This is the party which was most vocal about the need for a strong Lokpal. For Congress Sukh Ram is still avoiding prison by pretending to be unconscious in hospital. Mubarak already did that in Egypt. You would think that judges would see through such sham but no one dares to mess with the Congress. If only it as not so boring. Suicidal.

Method in confusion.

An apology would seem to be called for. We had assumed that ministers and officials were trying to imitate demented parrots when they continued to harp endlessly on a growth rate of 8% but it appears there was reason for their echolalia. It appears that the services sector comprises 57% of GDP, industry is 28% while agriculture makes up 15%. Services, led by IT, has been growing at over 10% which gives a " floor " GDP growth rate of 6%. Industry was growing at 8% giving a floor growth rate of 2% so even if agriculture remains flat we should expect a GDP growth of 8%. ET, January 4. Why both services and industry should continue to grow regardless of circumstances is not explained. Our economy is not export driven like the east Asian economies. Internal consumption accounts for over 80% of the economy and this would surely be sensitive to inflation. For households there are some expenses which are compulsory. Food, rent, travel costs, utilities, school fees, medical expenses and some social obligations like marriages must be paid for. When the cost of all these are rising, some by 50-100%, then people will cut back on what they see as non essential expenditure such as eating out, cinemas, travel, buying a new car and so on. These are taxpayers with legitimate income. There are vast numbers of people whose main earnings come from black money including politicians, civil servants,ration shop owners, property dealers, builders, shop keepers and others. These people are immune to inflation. The union government spends Rs 8.16 trillion on the salaries of 6 million employees. State governments and public sector companies employ another tens of millions. If only 5% of the population have black income that makes 60 million people who can spend regardless of prices. That is equal to the entire population of Great Britain. However, to depend on black money for growth seems stupid. This would explain why headline inflation remains at 9% in spite of 13 interest rate rises. A lot is being written about policy paralysis. When there are 80 ministers there can never be any decision. If the environment fellow wants reduction of greenhouse gases the minister of biogas will object. If minister of kabaddi wants to play a Sachin in his team the minister for cricket will object. Coalition dharma. With this government the only growth we can expect is that of deficit, poverty and corruption. Not at 8%, more like 800%.

Officially corrupt.

Karnataka has made it official. Until now civil servants were restricted from receiving any gift costing more than Rs 5000 in the case of officials in Groups A and B, Rs 2500 for officials in Group C and Rs 1250 for those at the bottom in group D. This was causing hardship so in a fit of kindness the state government has increased the quantum of gifts to the basic monthly salary of the recipient. Since salaries of these useless parasites were increased by 80% in the Sixth Pay Commission this makes a handsome New Year's present. Interestingly an officer can receive gifts from a friend if he has no official dealing with him. Since some of our brightest join the civil service because of the opportunity for enrichment it provides it will not take long for them to increase their list of " friends ". Officer A can accept a gift from his " friend " and pass it along under the table to Officer B who has official dealings with said " friend ". Best get all this sorted out before a Lokpal Bill is passed. In the UK Gary Dobson and David Norris have been found guilty of the murder of Stephen Lawrence after 18 years. This was possible because of 4 years of painstaking forensic work which could match Stephen's DNA to a microscopic drop of blood and a strand of hair on the clothes of the 2 killers. A public inquiry after the first trial, in which the men were found not guilty, severely criticised the Metropolitan Police accusing it of institutional racism. Since then wide ranging changes have been carried out in policing. At least UK has a functioning justice system. Here in India previous telecom minister Sukh Ram, who was caught red handed with Rs 30 million stuffed in his mattress in 1996, is still enjoying freedom. Over 80 he will probably die of old age before judges wake up. Ramalinga Raju, who confessed to robbing his company, Satyam without any duress, is out on bail. Sir Conrad Black is in prison for the same crime of robbing Hollinger International. Bernie Madoff confessed a couple of months before Raju and is already serving 150 year sentence. It is best not to say anything about our judges because they have made themselves divine. And how. They have acquired a lethal weapon called " contempt of court " in which they act as prosecutor, jury and judge. A news channel has been asked to pay Rs 1 billion to a retired judge for mistakenly showing his picture on TV for a few seconds even though they apologized for 6 days on their programs. All " friends ".

Leaders responsible.

People reflect the type of leaders they have. Indians lack a sense of humor, are disunited and have no respect for the law because that is what they learn from Indian politicians. Our politicians roam are around with Z plus security because they crave status knowing that they are despised. Motivated solely by self interest small local parties have paralysed parliament preventing the passage of any bill, however important for the nation. From loot to rape to murder politicians commit every heinous crime and are then protected by their parties. Soldiers returning from the Iraq war are unable to adjust to civilian life back home in the US. One 24 year old veteran, Benjamin Colton Barnes shot dead a ranger, Margaret Anderson at Rainier National Park. His girl friend said that he was irritated, depressed and moody and kept an arsenal of weapons at home. When abroad US citizens can commit any crime against locals and are then protected by their government. Raymond Davies and Amanda Knox walked free. Wikileaks video showed how a helicopter crew were laughing while hunting Iraqis, killing 2 Reuters correspondents in the process. When you are able to enjoy yourself killing locals, as in the massacre at Falujah, with no fear of punishment it must become a habit and the sudden restrictions of life back in the US is such a shock that veterans are unable to adjust. Calling it post traumatic shock provides a veneer of respectability but prevents diagnosis and treatment. In a court in Yibu in China S Balachandran, an Indian diplomat was so severely assaulted by locals that he had to be admitted to hospital. He was trying to secure release of 2 Indians who were being held hostage to secure payments. Couple of months back a captain of a Chinese fishing vessel killed a South Korean coast guard by stabbing him with a shard of glass. The Chinese government treats its citizens like trash. Anyone protesting injustice is threatened, beaten and jailed so there is an enormous anger waiting to explode. It is relatively safe to take your anger out on foreigners which makes Chinese an uncivilised nation of savages. You see the same in the middle east where foreigners are abused, workers treated worse than animals and maids raped. It is said that we deserve the government we have. In reality people have no power. Scum have taken over.

Inflation stops growth.

Inflation affects everyone in the country, the poor infinitely more than the rich. With finite earnings rising prices mean that people can buy less so they make choices. For the middle class it may mean postponing the purchase of a car or replacing the old fridge. For the poor it means having less meat or milk and doing without washing powder, a visit to the dentist or an essential blood test. Thus it affects the entire economy from automobiles to white goods to the FMCG sector. High interest rates, on the other hand, is good for those with less income because they get higher interests on their fixed deposits in banks which augments income and savings. However high interest rates are bad for builders, property dealers and land grabbers who make profits out of creating a bubble. Property prices have increased 800% since 2002 and have reached fairy tale levels. This is good for criminal politicians and thieving civil servants who have invested their black money in property which is why the government is so keen to see the RBI reduce interest rates. The constant chatter is about growth with ministers debating whether it will be 7.6 instead of 7.4%. With the rupee in free fall inflation will rise preventing the RBI from reducing rates so in a fit of panic the government has decided to invite hot money from abroad. First banks were freed to set interest rates on Non Resident External accounts. A few banks promptly set the rate at 9%. Second the government has now allowed Qualified Foreign Investors to buy shares in the Indian market directly. Foreign Institutional Investors have apparently lost Rs 2 trillion on Indian shares because the Sensex has fallen 24% in 2011. That,coupled with the fall of the rupee, has meant that FIIs have got fewer dollars on repatriation. So why should foreign investors, individual or otherwise, rush to invest in India when the future looks so foggy? Recent outcry over corruption and black money held abroad may have forced the issue. This would provide a nice channel for bringing the money home. In the process the Sensex and the rupee would stabilize. Problem is that general elections are in 2014 by which time things could really get really rough. Still the politicians would never call early elections. What if they lose? That will cut 2 years worth of loot. They seem to be like the monkey with its hand stuck inside a bottle, desperate to get its hand out yet too greedy to let go of the nut. Would it be stupid to enjoy?

Reasons for optimism.

So, 2011 is dead and we are already into 2012. In spite of pious hopes for happiness and prosperity the future looks extremely gloomy. Europe is certain to plunge into recession and there is a real chance that the Euro will break up. That will cause absolute chaos in financial markets. In India fiscal deficit and current account deficit are rising fast, non-food inflation remains uncontrolled and the rupee is plunging which will raise cost of commodities feeding into inflation. Already a Rs 2 increase in the price of petrol has been announced. So is there any cause for optimism. If the worst happens and the Euro breaks up the resulting financial meltdown will lead to protectionism as each country tightens control on trade. This will reign in the robber barons who have been moving money around the world, cutting jobs and awarding themselves ever increasing bonuses. Politicians, however craven, will be forced to tighten rules on how markets operate and punish financial scam artists. Prices of commodities and properties will fall bringing some respite to the poor. If growth in China falls precipitously there may be social unrest leading, hopefully, to civil war. In Shandong province in eastern China 24 people died from Viral Hemorrhagic Fever transmitted from rats. Fan Tiangli, an Infectious Diseases doctor, said that cases were from rural areas where people were in direct contact with rats or had food contaminated by rats. Or maybe they were eating rat salad. A 38 year old driver in Guangdong province died of bird flu. He did not have any contact with poultry and did not travel abroad so how he got H5N1 is not known. Previously the virus was thought to have infected civets before jumping to humans in China. Chinese habit of eating anything, however revolting, may lead to an even more lethal epidemic. Anything bad for China is good for India. In Pakistan the army is finding it difficult to maintain its absolute control. As the army weakens Islamists will become stronger. These fanatics have been trying to acquire a nuclear device for sometime and may feel bold enough to attack a nuclear silo leading to civil war. Relations with the US are declining and if a nuclear device is lost it may lead to open war with the US. Fall in commodity and property prices and war inside our enemies, now that is cause for optimism. Let us hope.